Orphaned No More
by talha.subhani.12
Summary: Hogwarts intervenes in the fates of two enemies, Harry and Tom. And as fate will have it, throws them into new lives where things promise to be different. Living as brothers as they will be orphaned no more.
1. Chapter 1

Hey all, my first fanfic ever. I write as a hobby and have random scriblings on pages spread throughout my house as witnesses to my passion for writing. I do not own anything in the HP universe except this plot. Please read and review

 **Orphaned No More**

 **Prologue**

1998

" _Avada Kedavra!_ "

" _Expelliarmus!_ "

Echoed two voices in the courtyard of a castle in Scotland.

What used to be a castle anyways.

Both the wizards had found a home in that now ruined castle.

And now they stood, wands raised, infront of eachother in battle.

Green surges of energy flowing extravagantly from the Elder Wand splashing and fighting against ,barely keeping up with, rivalling surges of red flowing from a phoenix cored wand.

Hogwarts was not pleased. She had chosen to shelter both of these orphans. They were her children.

She chose now ,out of a milliniea, to materialize into existance amidst the battle. Regretting that none of the past actions of any of her "children" convinced her to do so before. She resolved to make amends.

Harry and Tom could have sworn they could see a shining form appear right where their spells were converging.

An almost motherly feeling radiating from its very being.

The seemingly blinding creature of light spread out its hands both sides and grabbed hold of both the spells as if she were Zeus, brandishing his Thunderbolt.

Soon as she did, sparks of white energy travelled at an alarming speed towards both the casters.

Neither of the orphaned wizards could blink an eye before the surges of energy hit them, wiping them out of existance.

Hogwarts sighed as both the rivalling bolts of spell energy vanished along with their casters. She would make sure things turned out to be different this time around.

She vanished and at the same time somewhere in the battlefield, the Sorting hat reanimated.

Being the vessel of Hogwarts herself had its implications afterall.

 **31st December 1926**

A shaky hand knocked the grand door of Riddle manor in the early hours of the day.

Merope had little life left in her as she struggled against her dying breath to rap on the great wooden door with all the strength she could muster in her knuckles.

Much unaware was she to the fade in appearance of a womanlike ethereal figure right behind her back.

A figure clad in white robes and a black pointed hat that looked like it had a face of its own.

Exhaustion took over Merope as she coughed and fell unconscious to the wooden floor outside the Riddles' door.

The white robed being kneeled with all grace besides the dying seemingly pregnant woman.

"You will live yet, daughter of Salazaar" said the being as she passed a hand over the woman's womb and one became two.

Merope coughed back to life and before she could open her eyes again, the being had disappeared.

...

How was it? Please R&R. I will carry on posting if I get a response or...I would lose all traces of any motivation I have to ever post again :'(


	2. Chapter 2

Orphaned No More

Chapter Two

The few favs and follows were plenty to keep me going on. Thanks guys :)

Disclaimer: All characters belong to JKR I own nothing, except the white robed creature maybe :3 being a writer rules!

...

31st December 1926

Jenny was more than excited to start off the day at Riddle Manor as a maid, having been proposed to earlier that week by Raoul the gardener boy might have explained the skip in her steps and heartbeat. She was literally skipping all over the frontwalk leading to the main entrance. She almost skipped over the dying woman on the front porch too.

Almost.

She let out a shreik of surprise as she came into full realization about the woman's presence.

"Water.." said the pitiful creature.

All queries of 'Who are you and what are you doing here?' died on her lips as she ran towards the garden shed on the right outer side of the Manor to fetch some water for the woman.

Any bystanders could have sworn Raoul took a double take at her through a dim lit window as he slipped on his shirt after showering to rid himself of the stench of fertilizer.

She was pretty.

He hastily slipped on his pants and opened the door for her before she could knock on the door.

His sly smirk and all other flirtatious gestures dismissed by the rolling of dark brown eyes, Jenny sidestepped him and went into the shed looking for water while panting for breath.

"So what can this humble abode offer this fine young lady this morning?" he asked as he leaned against the opened door with crossed arms.

"Fine young lady?" Jenny scoffed. "Quite the charmer arent you dear Raoul?" she added as she tried hard to fight the blush creeping on her cheeks.

Raoul laughed lightly in reply and then turned his tone slightly questioning and concerned

"Seriously though, are you okay?"

His words warmed her heart as she found the water tumbler and glass and turned to leave the shed, not before walking up to his smug form and saying:

"Come and see for yourself then"

She exited as quickly as she came and he hurried behind her.

Only to find a woman literally going into labor on the front porch.

Jenny struggled to keep the tumbler from dropping out of her hand in shock.

She quickly filled the glass with water and sated the woman's thirst and then helped the woman stand up as she screamed out with labored pain.

Raoul was quick to note that no one had noticed the ordeal yet so he flanked Jenny on the other side of the woman and half carried her to the garden shed.

They quickly closed the door behind them as Jenny gave the woman some clean handekerchief to bite on to muffle the screams.

The malnourished woman gave birth to two healthy baby boys that morning before New Year's.

The woman was sitting gratefully on the bed as Raoul went inside after Jenny opened the door for him.

Holding two babes clothed in his shirts nonetheless. How oversized they may be for them.

Any thoughts about getting angry at that were vanished from his mind as he saw Jenny coo and cuddle the babies as if they were her own. He stared at her quietly, lovestruck.

Merope, as the woman had introduced herself to Jenny earlier, was sweaty and breathing heavily but had a radiant smile firmly placed on her lips.

She looked no older than twenty years of age.

Almost as old as himself, Jenny and young Master Riddle who had come home a few weeks ago after being lost for quite a few months.

Little did he know of the gobsmacking connection his thoughts had just made.

"Thankyou" Merope whispered to Jenny and Raoul. "The both of you saved our lives today" she said as she reached out for her newborns to cuddle them close to her heart.

Raoul nodded in reply while Jenny hugged the woman briefly before asking

"Do you not have a home Merope? Or a husband?"

Guilt struck the young mother's face as she mumbled something about bewitched love. Earning raised eye brows from the young couple.

Merope looked as if contemplating what to say and then spoke:

"I hurt him enough to make him leave me" tears welled up in her eyes.

Raoul could not take more emotion than he could handle so he handed the woman another glass of water and exited the shed to head towards the Manor.

Finding a very curios young Tom Riddle standing there looking almost as if he was waiting for him or Jenny

"Who was that woman Raoul?" he asked curiously.

Raoul realized his master must have seen them help her to the shed.

"She calls herself Merope, sir" the young lord stiffened at the name. "and she gave birth to two baby boys just now in the shed" replied the gardener.

Tom lost his footing and grabbed the porch's railing for balance.

He had thought he would never hear that name again.

The witch had bewitched him into loving her but..

It had turned true soon as she had stopped feeding him that wretched potion.

Being with her everyday had become a cause of joy for him.

If she had not told him about the evil magic she used on him, he would have had the courage to stand by her and accept the strange unexplainable circumstances that lead to him being in love with her.

Raoul was no less intrigued by his Master's reactions.

"Shall I take you to her? He asked, obviously not realizing the magnitude of his words.

Tom's eyes met his in an instant, he turned around quickly and went inside the manor, only to emerge minutes later with a purse full of money.

"Feed and clothe her with this. Her children must get the best Riddle Manor has to offer. And not a word of this must reach my father or even her. Or I swear I will make life miserable for you!"

Tom's desperate attempt at anger was not unseen by Raoul as he hurriedly bowed to his master and sped off to the baker's to fetch bread and broth for the weak young woman.

Tom did not know what changed in him as all his anger at the witch got banished somewhere he could not fathom, but unbeknowest to him, a pointed hat near his bedroom's window morphed into a raven and flew off towards the horizon.

"Ammendment made" mused the ancient being to herself as she enjoyed flight in the raven's body for a while before disappearing into a flash of light into nothing.

...

Meanwhile in Scotland the disappearence and reappearance of the Sorting Hat went completely unnoticed by a certain Headmaster Armando Dippet who did not bat an eyelash as he read the Daily Prophet's article on Muggles and their "World War".

...

how was it? Please R&R :)


	3. Chapter 3

Orphaned No More

Chapter Three

It had been a week since the garden shed in Riddle Manor had become home to one Merope Gaunt and her twin babies. Raoul had been moved to an undergroumd room that had formerly been the Manor's bomb shelter. No more war meant no more need for a bomb shelter.

Thomas Riddle was not one to pay much heed to the relocation of servants. But said relocation being done to accomodate a young mother of two, on the orders of his son nonetheless, did pique his curiosity slightly.

Slightly might have been an understatement.

Lady Riddle was visiting her sister in London or she most certainly would have raised hell about the matter.

He had considered approaching young Tom to ask him about the incident but he did not want to seem petty fretting over this when clearly the Manor could house a large number of people without going broke.

But his son's interest in the matter concerned him.

Fatherly instincts won over generosity and he summoned his son for tea in his study room.

Dressed in a white plaid cotton shirt and a black overcoat with a monocle fixed to his right eye as he read the day's paper, the Elder Riddle looked very intimidating.

"You called?, Father" came the hesitant voice of his son from the door of the study.

Tom had been eager to avoid his father following the day Merope moved in to avoid discussion about the whole thing. He was not too fond of what had happened between him and the witch and was trying to come to terms with it so he had never mentioned to his parents what actually had happened during the days he had disappeared.

People in the town had speculated that Merope and young Tom Riddle had eloped together. Mrs. Riddle proceeded to laugh out loud during a town party at the notion of her proud son running away with a "tramp's daughter". That was what she had done publicly. The fact that she had found solace in crying in the privacy of her bedroom was another matter entirely.

Aristocrats. One would fathom they were another specie entirely.

Naturally senior master Riddle did his best to eradicate all mention of the name Merope from Riddle Manor by replacing all of the servants who had heard the gossip with new ones.

Gossip had died down once his son had come back claiming amnesia while there was no sign of the runaway girl.

Thomas Riddle prided himself on never giving in to gossip and not checking for himself who the young mother residing at his house was.

Obviously pride went down the drain when worry overcame him about whether or not this was the same girl.

"Come in, Tom" He said breaking his chain of thoughts.

Tom nodded and came to stand near a bookshelf near his father's chair. Seating himself did not occur to him out of nervousness.

His father looked at the empty chair infront of him and then at his still standing son and said:

"Sit down my boy! When did you start needing a permit for that?"

Tom flushed at his tactlessness and sat on the chair promptly.

"Strange business there, Tom. I didnt know we were running an asylum" his father's to the point attitude was as scary as always.

"I dont understand what you mean, Father" Tom managed not to stutter.

"You were gone for months Tom. You came back and I thank God for that everyday." Tom relaxed at his father's concerned tone. "but just weeks after your return, a woman follows suit and births two babies in our garden shed of all places." Walls really did have eyes then " I am an old man, Tom. There is only so much of surprises I can handle with an old heart of mine." his father finished with a serious look in his eyes.

Tom felt all kinds of urges to just tell his father the truth, to have the woman thrown out of the house for how she had drugged him with something she called a love potion and had done away with marrying him and bearing him sons while their escapade to London.

But a calming presence stopped him. He could almost feel an invisible hand on his shoulder that calmed his very soul to the core and kept inspiring him to "be the bigger man" and "whats done is done" and "forgive what love made her do".

He really needed to stop drinking at odd times of the day. He swatted away his thoughts but decided to go by them nonetheless.

"A soldier saved me from a band of war traitors, father. The traitors knew about our wealth and were seeking to hold me hostage for ransom. Little did my savior know that the men would kill him later." he spoke as if reading from a script, mustering as much compassion as he could in his dialogue. "She is...was his wife. Now widow. I was forever in her debt. I cost her her husband. I begged her to come stay with us to ease my guilt" Tom lied with a straight face.

His father was shocked at the revelation. He contemplated surrounding his son with bodyguards to never expose him to such dangers again.

"You never told us that, Tom" he said in an exhausted and worried tone as he struggled to hold himself firm on the chair.

"I did not want to worry you father. My amnesia did not help things by much. I had almost forgotten about her until she showed up on our doorstep." Tom could not take lying to his father anynore. "Please excuse me, Father. This conversation has exhausted me. Kindly allow me to retire to the garden for some fresh air."

Thomas nodded feebly and gestured for his son to leave who did not waste time in doing so.

His hands shivered with worry and old age.

He would never let his son come across such dangers again.

His thoughts were broken by a raven flying away from the library window in an almost eerie fashion. As if it had achieved what it had came for.

Not that he would concern himself with a bird for any logical reason.

...

Please do review guys! I could really use some expert advice! :/


	4. Chapter 4

Fae0306: Thankyou! You're my first reviewer. I hope you like the story as it goes on :)

Haroon thankyou so kuch mate :)

Orphaned No More

Chapter Four

Baby Tom and Harry had just fallen asleep after crying for a good two hours. Merope sure had her hands full. Her abused childhood left her with scars and painful memories but no knowledge about how to raise babies.

Naming them had been the most ordinary thing she had done in her ordinary life.

Like folks would say "Tom, Dick and Harry" to symbolise commonfolk or everyone. She named her boys Tom and Harry just for that reason.

She mused that if she had triplets she would have named her third child Dick.

But something nagged her that doing so would subject the poor child to a lifetime of name calling and mockery. So she abandoned that thought.

Commonfolk, Normal people with no added complications or sufferings that made their lives miserable. She wanted her boys to have normal uncomplicated lives thus she named them so.

The fact that Tom was her (bewitched) husband's name was something she wanted to pass off as a coincidence. But a little part of her wanted that man to have a part to play in the boys lives. If he ever came to forgiving her.

Maybe thats what made her come to his home. To the neighborhood she had grown up in before her father and brother had been sentenced to Azkaban for attacking Tom, angry at the fact that their Parseltongued pureblood daughter had fallen in love with a muggle.

Before she had planned to bewitch him and win his love and be with him as her obsessions with him wanted.

Seeing the babies now made her want to torture herself.

"How foolish had I been"

She painfully whispered to herself as she searched for a hairpin in her dirty long hair, that was actually a wand that she had managed to ask a witch to transfigure into a pin. And also to make it so that it turned back into a wand after speaking a certain word.

She plucked out the hairpin from where she found it.

"Reverto" she chanted and her old battered wand was in her hands again.

MORE THAN A WEEK AGO

The witch had been kind to her. Before Merope realized the need to thank the witch properly and went back into the pub they had met in just a few minutes ago, the witch had disappeared. Merope wondered where the witch went so quickly. A raven outside the pub kept cawing so Merope distractedly went about going on with her business of reaching Riddle Manor. Abandoning the task of searching for her helper.

PRESENT

Raoul and Jenny had been very kind to her the past week. She was thinking of a way to thank them. The fact that Tom had not thrown her out made her hope reach the top of its possible existance.

But the hate and betrayal in his eyes when he had left her pregnant almost a month ago made her want to slit her hope's throat till it was not there anymore.

He would never accept her. Letting her stay might just have been because of her children. "Our Children" She thought with a pang in her broken heart. But she forbade her mind to think such ungrateful thoughts. She would have to do with being allowed to stay at the Manor. Her family's Shack was no place to raise little babies. Raoul's shed was better kept than it infact.

She felt bad about him being reloacted because of her but Raoul insisted. Saying something about finally getting the privacy he needed for his experiments.

She did not ask and he did not tell.

Everyone had secrets to keep and she respected that. She had not told them she was a witch afterall.

"Telling Tom had not worked out very nicely" She thought with a shudder.

She proceeded to transfigure a few apples, that she had found in the Manor gardens, into apple pie. She had never been schooled properly in magic. Not at Hogwarts nor anywhere else. So she managed to blow up two or so apples before getting one right.

The few spells she knew came from practicing from the few tomes she found in her father's dusty old library after he and her brother had been sent to Azkaban.

She tasted the pie to make sure it was edible and upon satisfying her worries she brought it out of the shed and started looking for Raoul and Jenny.

After looking around the gardens she found Jenny dusting the windows from inside the Manor. Jenny did not seem to notice her.

Nor did she notice the bushes near the window ruffling and shuffling as if someone was hiding in them.

Merope took a few steps back. She was not a brave person. Someone was here. And that person had their eyes on Jenny.

Something clicked in her. Jenny was her friend. A relation she had never had before. Someone who cared about her. A kind person. And she was in danger.

Merope took a few calculated long strides towards the bush and had her wand pointed at the bush in a matter of seconds.

But she stopped. Her wand was touching something. Someone. And that someone made a manly yelp of surprise upon being spotted by Merope.

But she could not see anyone. Jenny had left the windows by now. Unaware of what was happening outside

Merope's heart leapt to her throat. A disllusionment charm! A wizard was here!

"Morfin? Is that you?" she called out her brother's name in fear and with even more unwillingness she said "Father?"

A distinct smell of fertilizer made it to her nose. The man had probably started sweating.

Realization dawned on her as the pie dropped from her hands and she ran from there back to the shed.

He followed her.

...

How was it? :)

Please R&R

A pretty obvious cliffhanger. I'll make the next ones more difficult ;)


	5. Chapter 5

Basium1 lilmisadiva fae0306

thankyou for the support! :) I hope it continues to interest you!

Orphaned No More

Chapter Five

Merope shut the door of the shed behind her as she entered it. She was panting for breath, leaning against the door for support.

Thats when he started knocking on it.

"Merope! Are you in there? Please let me explain!"

said Raoul in a tone of urgency.

Merope considered her options. Could she trust Raoul? He had the same secret as her.

"Merope please! You'll understand me if you just listen to me. Theres no reason to be afraid." Raoul said placatingly

Merope scoffed out of irony. She was the one who was about to hit him with a cutting curse just before she realized who he was.

She composed her breathing and unlocked the door.

There stood Raoul visible again and covered in apple pie.

Merope muffled a hysterical laugh by covering her face with her free hand's knuckle.

Raoul managed to notice the wand in her hand and he put two and two together after that. His face changed many shades. From surprised to understanding to amused.

"You too?" he asked in a merry tone

Merope nodded with a smile and invited him into the shed by sidestepping the door.

Raoul entered and closed the door behind him.

Oblivious to the two of them was a brown eyed woman standing on the frontwalk looking at the exchange with eyes full of hurt and salty tears.

Apparently she had left the windows to come out when she saw Merope looking scared and standing by the bushes.

Jenny did not know what to assume so naturally she asumed the worst when she saw Raoul going into the shed with her this late in the evening.

She hurried off to the manor to find a private place to cry as she firmly thought her fiancé was cheating on her with Merope.

...

"I went to Durmstang. Didnt last too long because the place was full of dark voodoo stuff." Chatted Raoul amicably as he taught Merope how to clean up dirty laundry with an easy cleaning charm.

"Then where did you properly learn all these spells?" Merope questioned intrigued

"I taught myself!" responded Raoul as he flashed her a cocky grin.

Merope had to admit she was impressed. But then she looked at Raoul's dirty gardener clothes and noticed that the smell of fertilizer with a whiff of her nose.

Raoul seemed to understand her thoughts. He gave her a chuckle.

"You're probably thinking how a wizard like myself ended up a gardener for muggles" he stated pensievely.

That caught Merope off guard but she smiled with a light blush in admittance of his observment.

"One does wonder" she replied.

"Jennifer May Heatherson" he spoke dreamily.

Merope's eyebrows rose in contemplation. But she soon understood.

He was in love with Jenny. And this was his way to be near her.

She nodded in understanding and a smile danced at her lips. But a lump of fear refused to be gulped down her throat.

She looked towards her babies while addressing him and said:

"Does she know?" she paused "that you're a wizard?"

Her question made the gardener look downcast and he grimaced.

"Not exactly an easy thing to confess." he responded with a weak smile.

They stayed in companiable silence as Merope gave him an understanding smile and proceeded to cast the cleaning charm on him to rid him of a piece of apple pie that his charm had missed.

He looked at the piece of pie disappear and lauded her with an appreciative glance.

"You'd have made a fine seeker if you ever played quidditch." he remarked

Her face made the perfect impression of a question mark at that remark.

"Seeker? Quidditich?" she questioned curiosly

Surprised was the least that could be used to describe his reaction.

He spent some time explaining the basics of Quidditch to his new friend and then excused himself to leave. Thanking her for the pie.

It was nice to not have to hide magic for a while. For the both of them. They felt they could be more open with eachother.

He restarted searching for Jenny but could not find her anywhere in the outer parts of the Manor.

He frowned but resolved to talk to her tommorrow.

Meanwhile in a corner of the Manor's laundry room. Sat Jenny wiping her tears with a handkerchief. She was hurt. She did not know what had happened exactly but her thoughts were skyrocketing and her assumptions were assaulting her again and again.

She decided to talk to Raoul about this. She wanted to know what had happened.

...

Tom Riddle could not sleep. Sleep had become a luxury beyond his reach eversince his estranged wife and children had become distant parts of his life.

He could not understand what must be the best course of action. It did still anger him whenever he remembered what had been done to him.

But what he could not understand were stirrings of attachment he could feel when he looked at Merope from his window or from behind a tree while he took a walk in the garden.

He was perplexed. He felt anger aswell as longing for that woman.

She was not exceptionally pretty. A frail face , an even frailer body, below shoulder length straight black hair and eyes that spoke tales of horrible memories and pain.

He shook himself as he caught himself day dreaming about her.

A weak yet existant decision was forming in his mind.

What she did was unforgivable. But...

He would try.

He would try to figure out if his current feelings were any sign that he should forgive her and maybe even...

He shook his head again. He felt as if he was being guided or dictated to do and say things that a person with a very forgiving heart would do.

He was rich, arrogant, handsome and...falling for Merope.

He ruffled his hair frustratingly at the last thought.

...

How was it? :)

Please R&R!


	6. Chapter 6

Hey all! Iv added a few photos in an album on my facebook profile about the faces who I envision being of the characters in the story. The link is in my profile.

And I realize I havent described many of the characters' facial features well. Creative readers need them to imagine the story in their minds. Really sorry about that! I hope these photos make up for that. meanwhile I will make sure the characters are better described onwards :)

Thankyou again for your support :)

...

Orphaned No More

Chapter 6

A meeting had been called.

At a courtroom made out of marble walls that looked whiter than snow. Four grand portraits stood on the walls around a square platform, chairs painted in them.

All concerned entities were present in their respective portraits. Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravendclaw, Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin.

Hogwarts was being questioned. She was surrounded by a barrier of higher magic within the square platform. Magic even beyond her power. The spirits of her creators had called and so she was bound to answer.

They had merged the life force of a dying witch with the sorting hat. Effectively making her a wandering spirit but one that retained its magic and her animagus form.

Overtime if any headmaster would add any enchantments to the castle, the witch's magic would grow as a result. She would seep bit by bit of the magic to grow more powerful.

The fact that the witch was Godric's daughter who had gotten fatally injured protecting her son from a pack of wolves was another matter entirely.

She had been sure to die if the enchantment had not been used to tie her to the Sorting Hat. Meanwhile her sacrifice caused another enchantment to then be passed on down the Gryffindor line. One that would be triggered whenever a mother in a family descending from Godric would sacrifice herself for her child's safety. Pure bravery and selfless sacrifice. Just like a Gryffindor.

She would be the castle's final line of defense if the castle came threateningly close to being destroyed. Or being damaged beyond repair.

Slytherin was angry as he was not well informed about the creation of this guardian. But he was quiet. Afterall he had kept the Chamber of Secrets a secret from them too. A basilisk was his idea of a final line of defense if muggles ever threatened to destroy the castle and endanger its inhabitants.

Another reason he was quiet was because it was one of his direct descendants who had done the deed.

"Gennaía" Godric addressed the being who was his daughter a millinea ago.

Gennaía Gynaika Gryffindor was startled at being called by her first name from her life back then after so long. The last person to call her that was her husband as she lay dying in his arms while he carried her to her father in hopes of saving her.

It was not a fond memory but it was as vivid as daylight.

FLASHBACK

Ignotus Peverell Gryffindor had his grandfather's knack for adventure and foolhardy courage that kept his mother Gennaía concerned quite a lot.

His older brothers had other traits qnd were unique in their own ways. And so was he.

It so happened that once while playing with a few friends in the neighbourhood he called home, he saw a few wizards and witches taunting and teasing a squib girl. Thus far they had only been upsetting the poor child with words but soon as she started retorting with hurt and angry words of her own did they start hexing her.

Ignotus intervened. He returned the bullies' hexes with hexes of his own. Since it was one against many, Ignotus stumbled and a misplaced wand movement and a bout of accidental magic made him cast an irreparable Obliviate on one of the witches.

As she fell back with a scream, one of the boys ran towards her and kneeled by her in agony. He was of the Prince family as Ignotus heard at that time.

They were engaged. And she could not recognize him anymore. Fearing that he had lost the love of his life as she would no longer remember him, the Prince boy proceeded towards Ignotus menancingly, tears streaming from his eyes as he cast a dangerously modified version of the cutting curse on the boy.

Rage muddled his aim and he hit a sheep passing by near Ignotus. The sheep's blood splattered all over him.

Before the duel could start anew, the bullies started apparating away in hopes of saving their friend's nemories with a healer's help. With a look of anguish in his eyes so did Prince.

Ignotus got dizzy from the sight of all that blood and took a wrong turn down the forest instead of heading home.

The squib girl had already run off to fetch her saviors' parents.

Gennaía was the only one home at the time and she rushed to her son's location by the beaconing of a locator charm she had put on his wand.

She froze when she saw the sight at hand. Her boy was surrounded by wolves who were about to pounce on him. The smell of sheep's blood had frenzied them and brought them upon the boy. She screamed in fear and ran towards the pack of wolves casting hexes and banishing charms at them.

Ignotus now back in his senses started firing spells at them too.

Mother and son together managed to scare off most of them but two made their way to her. One bit her wand arm making her drop her weapon and the other mangled her neck with its paws, giving her a fatal wound, right before a cutting hex from Ignotus could kill it.

He had not fired sooner worrying he might hit his mother.

His father reached there just then with the other villagers to find his wife covered in blood and son in a simillar disposition.

He began loosing his footing but tried to stay calm as he carried her and asked the villagers to escort his son to a healer. Ignotus disagreed and grabbed his father's arm soon as he was about to apparate away with his mother.

They apparated to right outside Hogwarts grounds and ran as fast as they could to her father.

Peverell did not know how he had managed to side along apparate two people with him but he could not care at the moment as he ran with his son in tow. He would later credit the feat to his magic responding to his sense of emergency.

Her father along with the other founders were the most powerful wizards of the age and would know how to save her.

As he barged into the grounds all four founders met him on the way to the castle gates having been alerted by the Castle's wards of people entering in a state of urgency.

Helga and Rowena began patching up Gennaía and Godric tried to calm his son in law down. Salazaar did help too. He put blood stopping charms on the dying woman's neck to try and save her. Meanwhile he could see that Ignotus knew what happened from the look on his face. He used Legillimency on the boy and as soon as he found out what had happened he angrily said:

"May the men in wretched Prince family never be happy with true love" the deed was done. A curse was put on the Prince family line there and then.

The rest is how it happened. Rowena devised keeping her friend's daughter alive by attaching her soul to the Sorting hat. Not like a Horcrux. Not a part of it. But the entire soul.

It was grimly agreed upon and the deed was thus done.

END FLASHBACK

"Gennaía,.child please listen to me" said Godric to his daughter. Breaking her out of her thoughts.

She had been known as Hogwarts for so long that the very name sent her down memory lane.

"Yes father" she replied calmly

"Why would you endanger yourself by coming forth now of all times?" Godric asked while the other founders looked at her with genuine concern.

Even Salazar respected her for her sacrifice.

She smiled and replied boldly "Those I care about were dying, I have done a simillar deed before and will surely do so again. I only regret not coming to help sooner"

Surprise caught the faces of all those present besides her and she watched warnly as the spirit of her father started tearing up with joy.

No other point was to be made that day.

...

How was ir? :)

I know the Peverells hence the Potters didnt descend from Godric but I tweaked that part a bit for the sake of the story. I also confirmed Ignotus' time to be the 1200s and Godric and other founders being mega powerful wizards would have survived to see and know him since wizards live to be quite a lot over a century. Dumbledore willingly died early (115 or 113 ish) because he would have been killed by the cursed stone eventually.

P.S: Gennaía Gynaíka is greek for "Brave Woman"

I hope you liked this chapter. I wanted to give it a nice backstory and this chapter was intended to achieve just that.

Photos for the faces I see some of these characters in are in a link on my profile.

I disclaim all rights to those photos and to HP stuff.


	7. Chapter 7

awkwardtimeagent: I agree completely. Puffs deserve recognition too! I'm one myself on Pottermore :D . Thank you for your support :)  
lilmisadiva: Seemed like an adeqyate tweak :) what do you think?

Note to self. Never edit a story in UC browser mini. The entire document gets royally fudged.

Orphaned No More

Chapter Seven

Thomas Riddle had never seen Merope Gaunt after or before rumors started up about her eloping with his son. This was of course not the same for his wife, Mary Riddle, who made it her business to know everyone and everything about everyone in Little Hangleton. For gossip purposes mostly, but she believed it to be her right to know what was happening and who it was happening to.

After visiting her ailing sister Martha in London for the past week or more she thought it best to return home when her husband sent her a very cryptic letter. Subtlety was never his strong suit.

"My Dear Mary

I hope to God you have not caught Martha's ailment, as lovely as she is she simply does not know how to cover up her infernal sneezing.

Our boy seems to be showing a grand amount of chivalry these days. He seems to have 'requested' a young just widowed and newly-became mother of two babies to move into our Manor.

Before outrage envelopes your fair face, I will have you know that we are in her debt. She became a widow while her husband saved our son from some dreadful war traitors.

I do hope you return soon, the Manor and its inhabitants miss you dearly.

Yours till death

Thomas

Outrage did envelope her face. This was a lie. This widow and war traitor's story was from a Romance Novel in her library. Tom did enjoy reading so he must have read that book at some point and was now using its plot as a lie of an excuse to harbor a woman at the Manor."Scandalous" she thought.

A few more seconds of thinking had her rushing to her sister's bedroom, kissing her goodbye, packing her bags and leaving by her private carriage for Little Hangleton.

The epiphany that had made her hurry back home was:

It had been exactly nine months since Tom and that wretched Merope Gaunt had disappeared together from Little Hangleton.

...

It was a good day as any to take a walk in the Manor gardens. But fate had its strange ways of being humorous.

The thought of taking a walk in the gardens occurred to two people at the same time on that fair day.

Merope walked by the Lilies and admired Raoul's handiwork as she saw how well the bushes were cut and arranged. She was sure the small eyed young wizard had used his wand on them come night time when everyone would have been asleep.

She walked by an Apple tree and saw a badly balanced ladder put up against it. A man was standing on the ladder but his face was obscured by the leaves.

"Raoul at work" she thought as she walked up to the tree.

"What exactly are you up to?" said a woman's voice unexpectedly and made Tom lose his balance and fall down the tree he had climbed up on to get an apple before Raoul packed them up for later.

He expected to fall down with a thud but something held him in the air meters from the ground. He was flabbergasted at two things.

One, he was levitating.

Two, the one doing it was Merope.

Both their eyes were transfixed with each other as she kept her wand pointed at him, shock apparent in both their eyes. It seemed that she wanted to speak but it was as if no words escaped her mouth.

So he decided to break the ice.

"Put me down, Please" he stated blankly.

She released her spell and he managed to fall on his feet. He mentally thanked God for preserving the last bit of dignity he had left by letting that part happen.

He dusted himself up as she hurriedly put her wand in her cloak and made to leave with all speed.

He ran up to her and caught her by her arm and then

"I'm sorry!" "Thank you!"

Said two voices together shocking each other

Tom looked towards her eyes that looked no less surprised than his as she turned to him.

"Why are you apologizing? Tom" she asked with a distant tone in her voice.

"Why are you thanking me? Merope" he replied with an equally distant tone, albeit a question.

Silence stayed between them as the wind blew her hair over her face. Then she said:

"For letting me stay, despite what I had done. Thank you"

He stood quiet as he pondered for a while and replied

"For not letting you explain yourself and for leaving because I was afraid, I'm sorry"

He had done some thinking and he realized that he had indeed regained most of his consciousness as she decreased and eventually stopped giving him that potion back then and despite that he had not left until she told him who she was and what she had done.

A rogue tear made its way down her cheek without letting her stop it as she stood there dumbfounded.

He looked at where his hand was and it was still gripping her arm tightly. He lightly brushed her arm with his thumb and let go.

Volumes had been said in those few words.

She lifted her hand and wiped her tears with the back of her wrist and composed her breathing. Her heart was beating erratically and so was his.

"Master Tom" said a female's voice interrupting both of their thoughts and leading them to look at Jenny who stood nearby fidgeting with her fingers. Tom broke out of his reverie and acknowledged Jenny with a nod, she said:

"Your mother is home and she is requesting your company immediately"

Surprise etched on his face and as he glanced at Merope once and wordlessly smiled at her and left the gardens.

Merope tried to look at Jenny with a smile but she was rewarded with a disgusted look as Jenny walked away from her without a word, Blonde hair blowing fiercely behind her back from under the white cotton cap she wore.

Merope's heart hurt with a pang as she tried to figure out what had she done to upset the first friend she had ever made.


	8. Chapter 8

Miya: I hope not to disappoint you later Thank you for the encouragement!

angel: That's really nice of you I sure will!

missfairy88: Well I hope you do give this story a shot. It's my first fanfic so it might not be the best but I'll definitely try my best 

Guest: Thank you for pointing out those flaws! But I would say that I meant Dippet to be reading about WWI not WWII. The daily Prophet was supposedly writing about the aftermath of the First World War

Secondly, you're right aviation was not highly militarized back in WW! Though they did have Zeppelins and the Riddles being rich kind of left them at a tendency to be slightly extravagant. But you're right that was too farfetched of me. 

Orphaned No More:

Mary was certain she was not happy with the little display in the garden she saw from Tom's window. She had made her way to her son's room on the second floor soon as she reached home and was hoping that embracing her child would soothe her anger about the recent developments but he was not in his room.

His window with the garden's view was open inviting all sorts of insects into his room; she went to close it only to find her son and that 'disgusting tramp' standing too close for her liking, in a heated conversation.

Heated as in both of their faces could be seen blushing fiercely from the window.

She immediately raced to the stairs and shouted:

"Jennifer! Fetch Tom this instant!"

It was not until she heard a "Yes Ma'am!" from the blonde that she released a breath she did not know she was holding.

Her eyes made it to his bed's side table and found her copy of "Widowing my Beloved" placed there.

Any doubts about her theory about Tom's lie were now vanquished.

Quite a few minutes later her boy came looking for her and made his way upstairs to find her in his room.

"Mother! Welcome home!" he said with a genuine warmness in his tone as he came in for a tight hug.

She blinked, this was not right. She would not unleash her wrath on him today. He seemed so happy to see her. Merope bashing would have to wait for later then. She hugged him back genuinely, mustering the sweetest smile she could imagine.

"Tommy, I've missed you my dear boy." She cooed.

He smiled at her and pulled back from the embrace, saying: "What made you decide to come back in a week? You talked about staying a month owing to Aunt Martha's condition"

She imagined herself nudging her head towards the garden and saying 'Your little tramp and her two piglets made me decide so' but then she berated herself mentally for being tactless and proceeded with replying: 

"Your father was concerned I would catch poor Martha's ailment and would do her more grief than help that way" She managed a perfect display of a concerned sister and an obedient wife. She decided to treat herself to a nice freshly baked batch of creamed scones for her acting talents later.

Tom nodded understandingly.

"Though I couldn't help but notice that (the tramp was all over you just now) you've been reading 'Widowing my Beloved' how did you find the plot? Quite a smashing coincidence it is to our new guests is it not?" Tom noticed a flash of pure unbridled anger pass her face as she said 'Guests'. His mother scared him at times.

Then it occurred to him that she had seen through his ruse and was most likely setting up a ruse of her own. His shoulders visibly sagged but he was his mother's son and thankfully he did not take after his father's wits. He was not gullible.

He managed a perfect look of astonishment and exclaimed as he stamped his right palm with his left fist: "Isn't it though? I was quite astonished myself! I almost broke down laughing at the coincidence when I asked the unfortunate woman to move in here. Naturally the grave situation called for a tamer response."

Mary Riddle's brain might just have done a standing ovation for her son's acting prowess, If, it was not so occupied holding down the dam that blocked her anger from raising hell in her only child's room.

"Clearly" She nearly spat "Well more on that later. I haven't even said hello to your father yet, I came straight to my darling boy. I'm going to have to excuse myself Tommy" She said with a genuine pout.

"I'll walk you to his study" He offered her his arm with a charming smile set in place.

"How could I say no to such a dashing young man?" she said as she linked her arm with his. Anything to keep him occupied enough to not socialize with unwanted house guests.

They made their way to Thomas Riddle's study room to find him asleep amidst his books and Jenny standing there with a tray of tea and biscuits, obediently waiting for him to awaken, her arm seemed to be getting strained.

"Silly girl, Place the tray by the shelf and excuse yourself, you need not strain yourself" Said Mary semi-strictly.

Jenny nodded with a sheepish smile and placed the tray on the shelf. She then excused herself to go out to get some air only to run into Merope right outside Raoul's new room.

"Unforgivable" she thought as she marched up to the black haired woman. She had finally decided to confront Merope.

"You have SOME nerve!" she nearly shouted at her.

Merope flinched. She pleadingly looked at the blonde and replied shakily:

"Jenny, I do not understand. What have I done to upset you please tell me?"

Jenny's eyebrows went up with outrage and she could barely restrain her hand from slapping her former friend.

Merope raised her hands to her chest placating the situation and said: "If you do not tell me what is wrong, how will I ever even begin trying to fix it?"

Jenny took a deep breath to calm her nerves. The blonde was not used to being angry on such a high level.

"How about we start with how you are two timing with my fiancé and the son of the master of the house that sheltered you?" She said while angrily looking right into the frail woman's eyes.

Merope felt an invisible punch in her gut. Her heart hurt so much after hearing that. She wanted to cry and to let out her disagreement to the matter.

The years of indoctrinated silence in response to unfair treatment froze her. Her father and brother had messed her mind up in more ways than one could imagine.

All that happened was that tears made their way down her eyes uncontrollably.

"No, I..." Merope tried to speak but was interrupted by a male's voice.

"How could you Jenny? How could you say such things and reach such conclusions? You just accused her of lewd behavior and by extension accused me of cheating on you. Do you not trust my sincerity?" Raoul spoke in a shaky tone catching the attention of both the women present as he made his way out of his room.

Apparently he had heard commotion outside and made it out just in time to hear Jenny's statement.

Jenny felt mortified. She could not decide what was more humiliating. That she could have been terribly wrong or that her beloved was defending another woman against her when she thought herself to be in the right.

"NO!" Merope could not imagine standing around while the two got hurt. They had saved her and because of her this was happening to them.

"No…Nothing is happening between me and Raoul, Jenny. He is like a brother to me and you like the first friend I ever made. Please believe me" She pleaded with tears in her eyes.

Jenny was conflicted. She wanted to hate Merope. She wanted to be angry at Raoul. All she had to convince herself and satisfy herself was trust.

"I think she needs to know" Raoul said weakly making bile rise to her throat.

"Tell me what? That you love her and…" Raoul interrupted her by grabbing her wrists and taking her into his room nodding at Merope towards the room to follow.

Merope looked frightfully at him and noted his need to tell her. She wished to God for this to not fail miserably.

"Let me go you lying cheating chauvinistic pig!" Jenny screamed between breaths as Raoul brought her into the room.

Merope closed the door behind her as she went in with them.

Raoul released Jenny's wrist and brought out his wand from a shelf.

The witch realized what his intention was and before he could proceed she brought out her own wand and pointed it at him.

"Stop right there Raoul! I will not let you destroy your relationship for my sake!" Merope looked almost intimidating.

Jenny looked between the two of them and did not understand a smidge of what was happening, until realization struck her and she fell to the ground clutching her head.

"You are one of THEM" she concluded before spreading her palms on the floor as if searching for support to keep herself straight.

Pain struck Raoul's eyes and utter confusion muddled Merope's.

Raoul waved his wand and a badge materialized from thin air and levitated its way to Merope's hand.

She reached out for it and read out loud:

"UNSPEAKABLE RAOUL  
DOM"

Clearly she had been lied to.

….

I hope the story is up to the liking of all or most of those who read it :/

And a warm Eid Mubarak to all Muslims all around the world


	9. Chapter 9

Lady Eleanor Boleyn: I do hope to surprise readers about that. I hope you enjoy this story

Orphaned no More

Chapter Nine

Raoul wanted to comfort Jenny. To hold her and tell her that it was not what she thought it was. He was not one of THEM.

But that would be a lie.

THREE YEARS AGO

Raoul's ability to throw off the imperius curse and him being a natural Occlumens had paved a straight path into him being selected as an Unspeakable right out of Hogwarts.

He was given a fake back story to live by, that he was a Durmstang drop out who had learned magic from sheer self practice so that no one would ever expect him to be anything more than an average wizard. He made no friends and his family was nothing he would mention to anyone anyways.

He was an illegitimate son of a Spanish wizard who was made to have a child with a Veela, both under an imperius curse to sate the experimental curiosity of a very powerful dark yet mad researcher who lived off inhumane experiments until he was caught and executed by the Department of Mysteries.

The DOM then proceeded to take responsibility to raise the child into an Unspeakable as it was far too late to abort the child even magically and no one wanted an innocent's blood on their hands.

A male half-Veela born under the imperius curse, it made him immune to the imperius and made him a natural occlumens. It could never be determined whether or not he would exhibit any other characteristics that any other Half-Veelas exhibited as females. He grew up normally under the care of ministry care takers and exhibited nothing supernatural. That was until word of his parentage got out and a psychologically deranged and celibate witch tried to put him under the imperius when he was fifteen to make him believe she was his mother. This happened in Diagon Alley in broad daylight.

He showed no reaction to the curse at all. Not having known what spell the witch had just performed on him, he smiled and told her to try pranking someone else and bade her farewell.

She was not arrested as no curse was registered having been casted but her foiled attempt made her angrily raise magical hell in a muggle pub where she was arrested and the muggle bystanders were obliviated by Aurors.

It was not until her memories were viewed that Raoul's immunity to the Imperius got out and the Ministry gave itself a pat on the back for taking custody of him when they did seventeen years ago.

It was to be his first task as an Unspeakable, to assist two aurors in rescuing a muggle girl from two wizards who were using her as a hostage to make the people of her village give up the land they had been living on for years.

They did not dare touch her out of fears of contracting some muggle disease but they did cast the Cruciatus on her once when she tried to run away.

It was at that time, while she was writhing in pain on the floor, that Raoul and his team of Aurors infiltrated the building she was being held in. They disarmed the wizards and took them away for their trial and Raoul, with his face and voice magically masked as per Unspeakable standards, found her in another room to obliviate her.

As he got close to her and pointed his wand at her she lashed out at him, breaking out of the ropes that held her, thinking him to be one of her captors and snatched his wand and nearly snapped it into two before a stinging hex set up in the wand, intended to react to someone other than Raoul holding the wand, made her drop it. She did however get a good look at the wand and would be sure to recognize it if she ever saw it again.

She looked at him fearfully as he just stood there and did nothing.

"Please calm down" Said Raoul to her in an attempt to pacify her.

She did not seem pacified. "You were going to hurt me, just like they did" she spat angrily as she fixed a few wild strands of blonde hair from her face and crossed her arms, "Calming down is the last thing on my mind".

Raoul got a better view of her face and nearly caught himself blushing as he looked away. She was beautiful.

She could not see his expressions as his face was masked magically; she mistook him to be looking away out of disgust. Anger boiled in her. The wand bearing men had been calling her a disgusting piece of filth ever since they had kidnapped her a few days ago. "He held a wand and thus must be one of them" she reasoned with herself.

She did not waste a second in ramming herself into his body and throwing him off balance sprawled on the floor, and then running out of the building with her memories intact.

Raoul sat there dumbfounded; He had just been bested by an unarmed girl, a very beautiful blonde unarmed girl. He face palmed and chuckled to himself as he picked up his wand and went to report in to his superiors.

He left out that he failed to obliviate her because something within him did not want her to ever face wizards again. Something within him wanted to protect her.

He began frequenting the village she lived in without his Unspeakable mask in place and befriended the bar owner of the pub she worked in. She was a bar maid and he became a bartender. Drunken men tried to tease and taunt her and approached her for her beauty and he would fight them off. He did not get a "Thank you" out of her until the fifth time he fought for her. Her kidnapping had made her very untrusting of strangers.

Slowly they became good acquaintances and over more than two years they became close friends.

The Department of Mysteries did not favor Raoul's absence from the magical world for so long but he along with his caretakers convinced them that being an Unspeakable was not by his choice but by their decision. They let him off under a Magical Oath that they would only let him do as he willed if he kept his identity secret. The moment he revealed it they would be notified and action would be taken.

Once a rich man and his wife were seated at the bar during the day, the wife was crying about her young son disappearing and the man was trying to calm her down. They had stopped at the bar to have a drink to drown their sorrows.

Jenny was nothing if not compassionate. She brought the woman a glass of water and calmed her down and even asked her for any paintings or Photographs she had of her son so that she could help find him.

The gesture warmed the woman up enough to make her smile. As Jenny was going away from their table another drunkard blocked her path and tried to flirt with her. Raoul was nearby and he fought him out of the bar.

The owner of the bar was not happy. Business was already down and Raoul fighting possible clients off did not help things. He asked Raoul and Jenny to make employment arrangements elsewhere.

The rich man and woman seated there saw the whole thing and were outraged by the employer firing the two young people. Before Raoul and Jenny left the bar the woman offered them employment at her Manor and made sure to tell the bar owner that they would not be visiting his bar again. Apparently her husband had gone and fired all of their staff at the Manor recently and they were in need of helpers.

This is how Raoul and Jenny came to be at Riddle Manor.

He would never let her walk home alone and would always walk her home at night, she however insisted that he let her walk to work in the morning by herself as she needed to be self reliant more often.

He had been given permanent residence at the Manor's garden shed when the Riddles got word of him not having ever seen his family.

And it was right outside that shed that Raoul proposed to Jenny on the Christmas Eve of 1926. Right before she would leave for a few days to spend holidays with her family and not come to work.

She had blushed fiercely and hugged him in response and walked home smiling all the way that night but had never replied to his proposal.

Raoul figured she would when she felt like it.

PRESENT

Of course now he was afraid she hated him and would never want to see him again.

….. Please R&R I hope it was up to your liking


	10. Chapter 10

J.F.C: Thankyou for taking the time to thoroughly review :)

awkwardtimeagent: sorry I havent owned up on some artifact for the Puffs yet :D somewhere along the way there will be :)

Orphaned No More

Chapter Ten

She took deep laboured breaths. The past three years had been a lie. He was that very same man who had come to harm her back while she was kidnapped.

Raoul, if that was even his real name, was not a normal human.

Jenny had a tough time holding her tears in. She lay on the ground as the woman behind her, another one of THOSE people, approached her and gave her a hand to help her up.

Jenny looked at the outstretched hand and slapped it away.

She had not dared look in the direction of Raoul. And as soon as she did she blinked.

He was sitting with his head in his hands. And his fingers were shaking.

"You dont love me anymore. You hate me. I lied to you" she flinched after hearing the lie part. He really had lied about EVERYTHING. Including loving her.

Raoul tried to look up at her and their eyes locked for a second. He was trying to be man enough to not quiver as he spoke

"I do love you" she zoned him out. It was like he was responding to her thoughts.

"Did you just read my mind with those evil powers of yours?" she demanded as she slowly got off the floor.

His eyes widened with shock and a hint of pain.

She got up and went through the door to leave.

Merope had not been fast enough to stop her.

She kept walking and walking in a state of daze until she realized she was not in the manor anymore.

She was in a road ending dead at a small stream.

Two pop sounds were heard.

A man said something she heard to be "Obliviate"

She turned around swiftly enough to know to dodge a jet of light that was headed her way.

A third voice joined in after another pop and started shouting at them. That was Raoul's.

"If you touch a hair on her head I will not hold back and take down every auror and unspeakable from here to the ministry of magic upto the bloody minister himself!" he threatened violently.

"You broke your oath. You failed to keep your identity secret. A witch and a muggle know too much now and must be dealt with" replied a woman's voice from the pair.

Jenny could see Raoul's pupils dilate as he came to stand between her and the robed figures.

"You'll have to go through me." he snarled, daring them to resist.

The male out of the pair tightened his grip on his wand and pointed it at Raoul. His stance clearly hostile.

Jenny tried to move but she found that the witch had suddenly appeared in her path. The stream blocked her right, trees blocked her left. She was backed up against Raoul who was blocked by the man.

She felt protected by Raoul but at the same time her mind was in a flurry of emotions. Mistrust, anger and hurt threatened to make her abandon him.

Then the strangest thing happened.

The woman began levitating and by the look of shock on her face it was not voluntary.

And a raven started attacking and pecking at the wizard with her without giving him a chance to return fire.

Raoul was no less surprised by the turn of events but he managed to tame his surprise into an advantage.

"Expelliarmus!" he shouted twice pointing his wand at both his opponents one after another as their wands flew into his hands.

Merope revealed herself from behind a tree, her wand pointed at the still levitating witch.

The raven flew away as soon as its target lost his wand.

"I'm sure we can all agree to be a dash bit more civil here" deadpanned Merope as she brought her target slowly to the ground.

Jenny apparaised herself for keeping her cool despite the display of unexplaianable phenomenon happening before her very eyes.

"I call for a trial. A trial to allow Miss Jenniffer to be granted magical awareness owing to the damage our kind did to her three years prior." demanded Raoul. His former hostility now slightly subsided.

The witch and wizard glanced at eachother in recognition.

This was a very old and rarely used procedure. Reserved only when the International Vow of wizarding secrecy needed to be violated for certain muggles who were ,on a need to know basis, eligible to know.

Merope had meanwhile managed to transfigure some leaves into cucumbers and diced them into a tasty looking piece of cucmber salad.

Raoul gave her a raised brow look.

Merope scoffed. "Civility begins with offering food" she said with a motherly smile.

She transfigured pieces of wood into plates and served the salad to the people present.

Someone definitely had been practicing her Transfiguration.

...

Tom made his way out towards the Garden shed. He had to leave town for a few days on business and before that he hoped to get to talk to Merope.

His mother had been keeping him occupied enough that he never got a chance to see her.

The very little time he got was spent pacing around his room thinking about how he was going to react after seeing "his" sons.

A almost two weeks ago if someone had told him that he had fathered twins, he would have given them a penny for their attempt at humor.

But now it had happened and he had to come to terms with it.

He reached the shed and before hesitating for the tenth time he raised his knuckles to knock on the door.

The door creaked open on his touch.

The sight he beheld shocked the living daylights out of him.

There stood Mary Riddle near the bed with the fingers of both her hands gripped tightly by two black haired baby boys.

...

Please R&R sorry for the late update. I was travelling! :)


	11. Chapter 11

mizzrazz72: sure is :D

J.F.C: well lets see if ******* will let that happen ;)

melamariannie: they will :) with time

awkwardtimeagent: *highfives*

Sorry for the delay! Im still not home yet. out of town for the summer.

Orphaned No More

Chapter Eleven

Tom hid behind the door of the shed as his mother started to turn to leave. She was not supposed to know that he knew that she knew that he knew about her ruse.

Riddle family politics got too complicated sometimes.

Mary slowly freed her hands from infantile grips as she sighed and made her way out of the shed.

"Why did Tom's mistakes have to have his face?" she thought to herself. She loved her boy and knew that separating him from his children would devastate him.

If the way he was hiding behind the door was any evidence, he did care about them alot. Mary made sure to open the door a little too wide to hit Tom slightly on her way out.

She loved him to death but no mother liked the idea of being lied to by her only child so she was slightly angry.

The decision of what would have to be done about Merope would require more finesse and more shrewder planning, now that she had decided to accept the babies as her grandsons.

Tom managed to muffle a groan as his mother stubbed his toe with the door.

"The things we do for love" he mumbled as soon as his mother was back inside the Manor.

Small giggles caught his ears as he looked at the other occupants of the room.

His boys. He stared at them awestruck, and then very slowly walked over to the bed.

They were wearing bibs with names on them.

"Tom" he said looking at the very slightly larger child earning a smile from him and "Harry" as he looked at his other boy.

The both of them gave him radiant smiles and then Harry proceeded to vomit on his own bib.

Their father got taken aback by the sudden antic and rushed to look around for a soft cloth to wipe the gug off his boy before he swallowed it again.

It used to disgust Tom Riddle to be near babies. They shat and puked like crazy and were prone to excessively annoying crying.

But something was very different here.

They were his. His little boys.

As he wiped harry's stout little chin, the soft black haired infant grabbed his hand.

Tom Sr. managed to hold back a chuckle as he put the cloth aside and picked Harry up. Followed by picking Tom up with his other arm a few moments later.

He looked around at the shed.

They would not be staying in here anymore.

...

"Lycoris Black" said the female Auror as she introduced herself.

She half expected her partner to follow suit but he was too busy sneering at Unspeakable Raoul.

She nudged him with her elbow surprising him and gave him a half smile as she nudged towards the people present around them.

He looked at her and for a minute there was a distant look in his eyes as his eyes found hers but then he painfully looked away and said:

"Joseph Prince" he paused and said "and I'm not convinced whether or not the 'muggle' qualifies for Magical awareness."

His emphasis on the word did not go unnoticed by Raoul who retorted almost immediately: "Well thats tragic really, but at the same time of no importance, because it is the Wizengamot we have to convince not a mere auror."

Prince glared back in reply to the implied insult but before he could say anything he felt a wand poking at his throat.

At the same time, so did Raoul.

"Boys!" Lycoris snapped

"Civility!" added Merope as both of them slowly got their wands off the mens' throats.

Both men seemed to back down at that and then the fifth person present finally made her presence known.

"What are you people talking about? What is an Auror? And what in blazes is this Wizengalot?"

Raoul smiled at her innocence as he finally turned to face her, looked in her eyes and said: "Wizengamot, Jenny" she blushed at her mistake and in general at him looking at her so deeply.

As the aurors began explaining side along apparition to Jenny and Merope, the latter gasped and said:

"My boys!" as she ran in the direction of the Manor and the others followed her.

As she entered the shed she nearly screamed. Her babies were gone.

...

I hope it was good enough despite the delay! please R&R! :)


	12. Chapter 12

melamariannie: lycoris black never married in the orignal timeline. Joseph Prince didnt exist :D he is meant to be eileen prince's father and snape's maternal grandfather. thankyou for your support :)

mizzrazz72 and J.F.C: Merope forgetting her children is meant to serve the purpose of showing how much psychologically damaged she is after years of abuse at the hands of her brother and father. her behaviour after remembering is meant to reinforce that. :) but I should have been clearer! my bad :)

awkwardtimeagent: I looked it up. he held the position of chief warlock in the wizengamot for the 20th century except for Harry's fifth year.

booklover19a: thats really nice of you! thankyou :)

Sorry for the delay! the place im at is a hilly area so internet is scarce. and the place im headed to is a valley at quarter the height to mount everest so I'll be moving from scarce internet to no internet this week :'( posting will be slow for this week. I'll be back sunday and will post regularly!

I hope you guys dont abandon this story...

Orphaned No More

Chapter Twelve

Merope was running around the gardens frantically searching for her offspring, she was constantly berating herself for forgetting about them, tears threatening to pour down her cheeks. Raoul hurriedly explained to the Aurors that two possibly magical babies had gone missing, thus earning their professional concern.

Joseph began charming a compass that he produced from his pocket, with the ability to point towards any magical signatures present in the vicinity of the compass except those that had been added into the charm's "known" list so that those already known to the searcher do not interfere with the workings of the compass.

It was not a particularly tricky charm, for Joseph at least, as he was beyond excellent at charms and had designed this charm himself. He however refused to share the blueprints behind this charm out of a sense of self preservation. He did not want anyone else taking the credit for his work.

As soon as the compass was charmed and Joseph had registered Lycoris, Merope and begrudgingly, Raoul's, magical signatures into the compass; it began pointing in the direction of the Manor.

He signaled Lycoris to tell the others, but she had to do nothing less than casting a Petrificus Totalus on Merope because she refused to calm down enough to listen to the female Auror.

Raoul enervated Merope with an angry scowl towards Lycoris and told her as she began focusing on why she was on the ground and being helped up by the half Veela:

"We know where they are, Merope" he gave her a smile as he cupped her cheeks in his hands.

Jenny could feel another bout of jealousy build up but she reminded herself that he was calming her down.

"Though he could have been less physical about it" she mumbled to herself angrily.

Joseph cleared his throat "Anytime this week perhaps?" he asked as a matter of fact.

Lycoris rolled her eyes as she turned to Jenny and said:

"You work in there don't you?" to which Jenny nodded promptly. "Good, we need you to create a distraction while we go and find whoever's responsible. We cannot have anymore Muggles knowing about magic as it is." She ended with a half smile to placate any offence her statement might give the blone who half smiled back at the black haired witch and proceeded towards the Manor. She composed herself and went in the door. She was previously suspicious of the whole magical business but deep inside she knew Merope was suffering right now being separated from her children and she had to help, or she would be going against who she was.

No sooner did she enter did she find Mary Riddle screaming at the top of her lungs and shouting at her husband who seemed to be packing his bags.

"No son of mine is going to house his two illegitimate children in our home while I live" he ranted as he continued packing his bags in his study.

Master Tom was nowhere in sight but the full weight of what Master Thomas had just said unbridled upon Jenny and she realized who Merope was to her Master Tom.

She brought a hand to her mouth to hide a gasp but too late, Mary had already seen her. Mary's expression changed as she pulled Jenny into the study and closed the door behind her.

"You were going to find out eventually. But I know I can trust you" Mary said to Jenny making her feel ever so guilty because at this very moment she was here staging a distraction for some wizards and witches to break into the manor.

She did not reply to Mary but did nod reassuringly, which was enough for the lady who then proceeded to kick and open her husband's poorly packed bags. Meanwhile Jenny took a look outside the door and saw Raoul looking at the door worriedly, she signaled him to go upstairs and closed the door.

"Calm down, Thomas. You are angry right now. I was too. The vile woman somehow managed to ensnare our son long enough to father his sons but the deed is done. They are our blood. We have no choice. We cannot turn them away." She then paused for a sigh and added "Not like before".

Thomas froze as he recalled what Mary was implying. His fathered had sired another boy long ago when Thomas was much younger, he was never accepted into the manor by his mother and was left at the mercy of nature where he could not survive the storm that hit little Hangleton that unfortunate night.

He had remained quiet back then and had done nothing to defend the boy. But the guilt of the matter had him break down in front of Mary once when they were newlyweds. She knew how guilty he felt about it.

And she was right.

He sat himself at a couch and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Jenny snuck a peak outside the door and saw that the others had managed to get upstairs. She breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the fact that she was aiding wizards against "her kind" was conflicting her morals.

Mary smiled at Thomas and placed a firm hand on his shoulder to comfort him.

Jenny could not help but blurt out:

"But what are you going to do about Merope?"

Both husband and wife were brought out of their thoughts. The look of shock was apparent on the old man's face while his wife began hand gesturing Jenny to run out of the study.

"Merope? Merope Gaunt?" he asked with a hint of outrage in his voice.

Mary sighed exasperatedly in reply.

"So it was her, and Tom lied to me" Thomas stated rather than asked.

Jenny chose this time to sneak out of the study and avoid embarrassing Lady Mary any further. She made it to the bottom of the stairs just in time to see Raoul and Joseph falling down the stairs as they struggled to strangle each other.

She stepped back as she nearly screeched in shock and attempted to break them apart as Lycoris came walking down the stairs with a swan's grace and asked her to move away with a swish of her hand.

Jenny thought to barricade the study's door with her body to avoid letting anyone in there get a sight of what was happening out here.

Lycoris lazily raised her wand and pointed it at the mess that was two grown men fighting like children on the floor and shouted:

"Levicorpus!" she had her fair share of spells invented for the sake of pranking and would definitely pass it on to children in the Black Family.

Both men were lifted by their feet and hung in mid air upside down.

Their shouts were muffled by a silent "Muffliato" casted by Lycoris.

Their faces began to redden as blood raced to their faces, one could not have seen the redness in Raoul's face that was building up because his eyes just landed on Jenny and the fact that he was currently being humiliated in front of her.

Joseph contemplated meanwhile about how they got into this predicament.

A LITTLE WHILE AGO

As Jenny got pulled into the study by Mary, Raoul got worried and raced in the Manor's door but soon Jenny popped her head out the door and signaled him to go upstairs.

He breathed a sigh of relief and called the others inside and led them upstairs.

Jospeh had his wand raised and so did Lycoris as the formed a defensive formation to head up the stairs.

Merope was slightly less subtle.

She barged through them with her wand raised and ran up the stairs with Raoul following close behind.

Both of them found Tom with the babies in his room. Merope's shoulders sank with an inflow of relief as she steadied herself against the door. Tom shushed at them with his finger as if he had just put them to sleep. He softly pushed them out the door and exited himself as well and closed the door behind him.

"They're okay and they're going to stay here in the manor" Tom concluded with a serious look on his face.

Joseph pointed his compass at Tom as he reached upstairs with Lycoris. It did not recognize him as a wizard.

"Another Muggle who knows too much" He stated loudly and blandly as he pointed his wand and began the wand movements for "Obliviate"

Raoul recognized the movements and raced towards Joseph, sidestepping a gaping Lycoris, as he said "Not happening!" and slammed himself into the other wizard throwing them both down the stairs.

PRESENT

Tom made it to the top of the stairs and saw the two men being levitated. Being awfully familiar with the feeling he requested:

"Please put them down they look like they'll vomit on the floor any second"

Lycoris smirked at the sentence and after a second of thoughtful consideration she let her spell go and down fell both the men, in time for Merope to reach close enough to view the sight and gasp.

What had Raoul smiling like a little boy was that Jenny was by her side the very next second checking him for wounds.

…..

How was it? Levicorpus was the same spell James learnt from Sirius and used on Snape when they were in Hogwarts in their fifth year I think. They however managed to take his pants off and he hung there in his boxers while Lily was present. Lily tried to help him as he fell down but he pushed her away calling her a Mudblood and that's when their friendship ended.


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry for the massive delay. I was travelling and once I got back I had my finals. I tried multiple times to resume my story but the constant worry about getting facts wrong stopped me every time. I love HP but I am also a migraine patient. I cannot maintain research on facts and strenuous focus for long periods of time so I am sorry if my facts slip along the way.

The Levicorpus bit was mistaken. And I am sorry for that.

But the transforming leaves into cucumbers and apples into apple pie was not. Because according to Gamp's Law of elemental transfiguration one may not conjure food but they may transform one kind of food into another kind of food. Guest I do recommend that you look things up before criticizing. Bless you.

 **Orphaned No More**

Fourty-Five year old Hogwarts Transfiguration Professor Albus Dumbledore sat merrily in his Wizengamot seat as he observed other notables fussing over the sudden summons to a trial about the desecration of the Statute of Secrecy. They were appalled that such an unacceptable offense even needed a trial and that the culprit should be dealt with immediately and the involved muggle(s) should be obliviated.

What kept the fuss below the level for it to be called an outburst were the cold stares that the Head Unspeakable was giving the Wizengamot from his seat at the Prosecutor's bench. It was a member of his department who had erred after all but he would not allow anyone to comment about his department's affairs.

The Minister refused to attend the trial because he was unsure of what impact the results might have on his political stance. He was after all one of the few people who had supported raising the half-Veela child under Ministry protection two decades ago.

The thing that amused Albus more was that there was a strongly disillusioned minister hanging around the courtroom invisible to all but himself. He had even offered the man a lemondrop as he entered the hall but the only response he got was a shocked look from the disillusioned politician who gave the professor a shushing gesture and proceeded to check his disillusionment charm for any loopholes.

Albus nodded meekly and proceeded to sit on his chair with an expression that showed no signs of an oddity to have taken place.

Half an hour later it was announced that the accused and the muggle had been prepared for the trial and were being brought in that very moment.

As he adjusted his reddish brown beard, Albus poked into the incoming muggle girl's mind with Legillimency to gather all the information he thought he needed to interfere if the case proved to be too one sided against the young half-Veela.

He wanted to get information from Raoul, the name of the half-Veela as he learned from the girl's memories, but he was aware that the boy was a natural occlumens and would notice and report any and all probes done on him during the hearing.

The boy already seemed to be on an edge and was looking around suspiciously. He even rolled his eyes when the female Wizengamot members looked stricken with his natural charms from being a part Veela.

The proceedings were announced and the Undersecretary began settling into the Minister's seat as deputy as they were unaware of his invisible presence.

"Do you, Raoul Po-"a beam of light from the Head Unspeakable's wand interrupted the Undersecretary's inquiry.

Raoul blinked in surprise while Jenny stifled a gasp at the sudden display of magic.

"He goes by the name Unspeakable Raoul, his parentage is to be protected under oath that the currently absent Minister took when he last held this office two decades ago and sat in the seat you now occupy" spoke the wizened wizard monotonously. Unlike other Unspeakables, his face and even his first name were not public knowledge, he could even have been a she with a voice masking charm in place.

Dumbledore noted the minister's shimmering form take a few steps back silently in awe of the Head's authoritative demeanor. Apparently he had not expected to ever deal with the Head of the Department of Mysteries when he became MOM for the second time in his life.

No objections were noted.

"Very well, due protocol will be respected. As is the duty of this court." Chimed the Undersecretary in a submissive tone.

"Proceed" replied the voice of the Head of DOM.

"Considering all the given facts, the Statute was indeed broken. We even have an un-obliviated muggle in attendance on trial which is a first in my life." The Undersecretary spoke as he gazed around the Wizengamot for support in the motion he was working on.

"Agreeable, I sit in the prosecutor's bench for the very reason" responded the Head Unspeakable.

"Yes well there has to be some manner of defence present or we would be at a sentencing not a trial" added the Undersecretary.

Albus noted the contemplating looks on the Wizengamot member's faces and the look of worry on the muggle girl's face and coughed an interruption before speaking:

"If I may, I would request to be allowed to defend the pair. Out of sheer formality of course."

Raoul gave the man a look and attempted to decide whether or not to trust him. The Head Unspeakable did not need to turn his head to know who this was, being aware of his old friend's antics.

The Undersecretary looked perturbed.

Albus almost as if aware of Raoul's gaze, turned to him and gave him a grandfatherly smile.

The young man visibly relaxed and so did a disillusioned minister, invisibly though.

"Do you agree Mr. Raoul and Prosecution?" asked the Undersecretary

"By all means" replied the hooded wizard in the prosecution, followed by a hesitant "Yes" from Raoul.

Albus smiled again, stood up and clapped his hands over his head to trigger the appearance of his familiar.

Fawkes immediately Phoenix transported Albus from his seat to the area where Raoul and Jenny were seated. And then vanished.

"I apologize for considering my convenience, an aging man like myself should not be walking so much" Albus commented mock sincerely as he appeared out of the flames near Raoul. Apparition was not an option within the Ministry except for the Atrium.

This would be seen by the courtroom as a display of power.

"Raoul" Albus addressed the boy as he walked to him getting his attention after shocking him and those present with his theatrics.

"You have a smashing appearance, dear boy, do give me tips on how to keep myself fit after the trial is over" He spoke with a wink directed at the young man.

The hall broke into an outburst of laughter at Albus' attempt to placate the tension.

Raoul was red in the face, unsure what to make of the older man's approach, and Jenny was among those laughing.

What shocked everyone again though was that a now visible minister was still laughing in the middle of the hall, holding his belly.

Clearly he was unaware that Albus had disarmed and dispelled his illusion with his own wand during the commotion.

The Head Unspeakable had remained stoic during the outburst but was now silently amused at the unaware Minister's predicament.

Albus took benefit of the situation and looked at the Undersecretary to say:

"I believe it is time to ask who is in favor and who is against letting the boy and girl go without any charges"

The dazed Undersecretary deadpanned, almost as if responding to Albus: "All in favor of closing the case with no charges say 'Aye'"

Unanimously the entire Wizengamot replied "Aye" with hands raised.

All with the exception of the still unaware Minister and the bemused Head Unspeakable.

"The case is now closed" spoke the Head Unspeakable as he got up and left the hall.

Albus nodded at the retreating figure of the Head and turned to Raoul.

"Now about those tips"


End file.
